RadReads 145
Myth of “quality time,” Too many podcasts, Blockchain-based firms
Good Morning, Squad 💚
Winter is coming (if you’re on the East Coast.) This week’s postscript is in response to a question I often get: “How do I develop a writing practice?”
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What Is My Podcast Obsession Doing to My Brain?
5 mins | The Cut | HT: @jkglei
I’ve got a quiver of podcasts for every occasion (learning something, up @2am w/baby, insomnia, need something light, and decision overload). And the great thing about podcasts is that they’re not junk food for the brain, au contraire mon frere, they often involve learning. I had a sneaking suspicion that my inability to (god forbid) walk in silence may be problematic. I think this article is more bark than bite BUT it’s important to remember that even when you’re not doing anything, your brain activity only declines by a small percentage. Rest and quiet actually do make you smarter.
Behavioral Science and Your Best Self
Rad Awakenings | 55 Mins | iTunes | Google Play | Stitcher
RadReaders often pushback on the topics of happiness and introspection — this skepticism arises from the lack of both data (in the conclusions) and pragmatism/relevance to the corporate worker. Caroline Webb is here to bridge that gap — she’s a former McKinsey partner, leadership coach, and behavioral economist and the author of How to Have a Good Day — and is used to C-Suiters pushing back on topics that are too “woo-woo.” We discuss humans’ natural tendency to scan our environments for threats and how this impacts our brains. Are these threats real? How do we stop negative thought spirals? Is technology a source of threats? And a reader favorite, is fear a good motivator?
Unbundling (Your) Work: Our Careers in a Future of Robots & AI
127 Slides | Slideshare | HT: @gkhuyen
I cannot stop thinking about this topic — I specifically wonder what education will evolve into for our young daughters (sidebar: WeWork’s got a horse in the race). If work = skills + tasks + problems, what happens when tasks and skills get digitized/augmented via AI (or even outsourcing). It’s important to understand where the abstraction layers are in your industry (slide 67) and the “evaporation of the middle” (slide 92). (This is eerily similar to my much cruder posts on Unbundling Part I and II).
The Slow Death of the Firm
6 Minutes | The Control
I’m more interested in the Blockchain’s impact on incentive structures than its investment potential (though they’re inextricably linked). “Bitcoin is the first example of an organizational structure that has the beneficial characteristics of the firm: minimizing transaction costs, aggregating capital and mindshare, and providing job security for contributors.” This article isn’t blind either to the challenges of doing so: both decentralized decision-making and measurement of “work” are hard. And while we’re talking about on the unbundling, Blockchain can: create (jurisdiction-agnostic) earning opportunities and codify incentive structures into the organization itself.
Something is wrong on the internet
19 mins | Medium
This is about the weird world of YouTube kids. We try (but don’t succeed) in steering our 3 year old towards actual shows (on Netflix or Amazon Prime). All parents have seen the craziness that is “unboxing,” the weirdo (LSD-infused?) nursery songs, and yes, pornographic Peppa the Pig. What’s happening on YouTube resembles the Fake News epidemic — a mishmash of bots, AIs, server farms, and keyword hacking — with the intention of scoring ad dollars from our little ones.
Below the Fold
KIDS, THESE DAYS
🍽 Research shows daily family life is all the quality time kids need (8 mins, Quartz at Work): Quality time is a myth and the “trip to Disney” are myths. It’s the small micro moments each day. Parents, please read this.
💵 Millennials on Steroids: Is Your Brand Ready for Generation Z? (13 mins, Knowledge@Wharton): “Unlike millennials, [who are] the children of boomers, [Gen Z’s] parents — Generation X — are not helicopter parents,
🙄 The Costs of Being a Millennial (6 mins, New Republic): When “high achieving” becomes the new “normal,” what happens to average?
ICYMI
🎙 Question your default options (Rad Awakenings Podcast): This mind-blowing conversation w/@auren is the most-listened to podcasts so far.
🤖 Be prepared: your career (and industry) stack are changing (4 Min, RadReads): I’d love to hear from readers how they see the finance “stack” changing
💼 RadJobs: Roles at Superhuman (!!), Cowboy Ventures, VTS, and One Hope Wines. [Sign up]
LAST WEEK’S MOST READ
🤖 The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial (22 mins, Ribbon Farm): The number of texts/messages I’ve gotten about this article — wow. Whether you’re Gen X or Millennial, you will find lots of premium mediocrity in your life. And in exciting news, I’m going to discuss this article (and more) with @vgr in December.
